Every year thousands of children are recruited to be child soldiers. Those who recruit them are not brought to justice. This paper, by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces, argues that the international community needs to move from law making, programme development and training, to law enforcement, implementation, monitoring and reporting.
A child soldier is a person under 18 who is attached to any armed group, whether or not a conflict exists. He or she may participate in combat, logistical support, or domestic and sexual services. An estimated 300,000 child soldiers are used by armies and armed groups in violent conflicts in 30 countries worldwide. Furthermore, as conflict develops, children are killed, wounded and replaced by others, so the cumulative number is likely much higher than this.
The plight of these children was first made visible in the UN Report on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. Since 1999, UN Security Council Resolutions have condemned the use of child soldiers, outlining progressively stronger measures to stop this practice. A list of parties to armed conflict using child soldiers has been drafted. It includes 54 armed forces and groups in 15 countries. Today, child protection advisors are assigned to peacekeeping missions in Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC and Sierra Leone to ensure that child protection and the well-being of children are included in peace negotiations and agreements. Most child soldiers are drawn from the poorest, least educated and most marginalised social sectors.
- Especially at risk are children who are from a disrupted family background, refugees or internally displaced, living in conflict zones, from a particular ethnic, racial or religious group or who are former child soldiers.
- As a result of sexual abuse, children may get infected with HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted diseases. Numerous girls get pregnant, resulting in unsafe abortions or teenage motherhood.
- Some children join voluntarily in order to survive or because they believe in the cause they are fighting for. Their commitment may be reinforced by their upbringing and the idealisation of a culture of violence.
- Many child soldiers have witnessed abuses against their families and communities and some are seeking revenge.
The availability of small arms and light weapons contributes to the involvement of children in hostilities as combatants. Despite the international resolutions, thousands of children are still recruited and used for military purposes and perpetrators are not brought to account. The international community must now implement the resolutions.
- Governments should sign and respect all relevant international legal instruments. They should make 18 the minimum age for voluntary recruitment and participation in hostilities.
- Non-state actors must be held accountable by the same standards as state actors who violate international humanitarian law.
- Child protection training, monitoring and reporting in peacebuilding operations must be increased. The views of the victims should be included in programmes for conflict prevention and reconstruction. Long term funding is needed.
- The rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers should involve the community. They should not be stigmatised or rewarded for their activities.
- Coordinated actions against the illicit trade in arms and natural resources will enhance the protection of children from military recruitment.
- Economic sanctions aimed at perpetrators of crimes against children should be imposed, provided that they will not harm the children concerned.
